TELEVISION/THEATRE
LESEDI TAKES OFF AS THEATRE DIRECTOR
STAGE actress and musician Lesedi Job says having to sit with the audience and watch a theatre show directed by her was one of the most difficult thing she had to do.
Job took a brave stance by directing Mike Van Graan.
Born in Johannesburg and raised in different places, including Eastern Cape, Diepkloof and the northern suburbs of Joburg, Job is ready to claim her stake in the male-dominated field.
As much as she always wanted to be a director, doubt and fear stifled her. Now after watching her work with the audience, Job reflects: “I was afraid, of how people will react to the show. I kept asking myself if I did justice to this idea that I’ve turned into a reality. I kept asking myself if I could really direct a show.”
She says is about the indomitable human spirit, how far people are willing to go to survive. The story also tackles the burning issue of migration.
It uses the freedom of flight swallows enjoy is used as a metaphor.
“Mike’s characters are the archetypes that society can so quickly judge, but I wanted to explore the complexities of human beings. The play highlights the painful truth of the African continent’s position in this topic of migration.” Job says she was inspired to direct the show after she worked in Toronto, Canada, as an assistant director last year. by
“When I first read the script I asked myself if Mike was writing a stage play or an action film. The violence, the guns, the scene changes, actors playing three different characters...
“I was taken aback by his intelligence and brilliance. It was now up to me as the director to find a creative solution to telling the story and I was up for the challenge.”
As a seasoned theatre expert, Cape Town-born Van Graan wanted the show to be kept simple to avoid confusing the audience about who was playing which character.
“Before rehearsal I came up with so many ideas and thoughts and strategies, but in my heart I knew that the rehearsal process was the place where all this would organically unfold.
“I would sometimes feel like my brain was in a knot just trying to figure out which actor had the gun.”
The play features acting talent such as Warren Masemola, Mpho Osei-Tutu and Christiaan Schoombie.
Job, a theatre scholar with an honours degree in dramatic arts from Wits University, made her professional theatre debut as an actress in Wole Soyinka’s
directed by James Ngcobo.
She has since appeared in productions such as Touch My Blood, Colored Museum, Ketekang, Letters to Mandela, I Almost Remember, A Tribute to Maya, A Raisin in the Sun and Fishers of Hope.
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za